Stars must buy into Jim’s plan
COUNTY boss Jim Gannon called for his players to “buy into what we’re trying to achieve” at Edgeley Park, as The Hatters’ recent resurgence came to a halt in a 1-3 defeat to Woking on Saturday.
A late Frank Mulhern strike proved a mere consolation as Woking bounced back to winning ways with a double salvo from striker Jake Hyde, accompanied by a David Tarpey finish.
The defeat brought County back down to earth after a fine recent run of four National League games unbeaten, including four points from two mammoth trips to Dover Athletic and Bromley last week.
And boss Gannon admitted that the “tiredness” from those journeys did play a part as County slipped to a disappointing reverse back at Edgeley Park.
“Some players looked a bit fatigued. I think from there, it was down to the decision-making and a lack of quality on the day,” he said.
“There were moments where we created chances, but we just didn’t take them. They were a little bit more efficient. There were a lot of issues.
“I felt tired when we got back, so I’m sure that’s (an issue). But we did talk in depth about it as staff, about how to manage the lads and who to have training and who to have sitting out.”
The Irishman was keen not to use the ‘fatigue’ as an excuse for his side’s failings, however - and lamented ‘basic errors’ from his side back in front of their own supporters.
Woking moved up to eighth place with the three points, bringing to an end a poor run of form of their own - but Gannon explained that, whilst The Cards had too much on the day for the hosts, his players had made the visitors “look really good.
“We work on things in training, and then we threaten to do it in matches but end up not quite doing so. I’m hoarse from shouting basic instructions to the lads - the second goal epitomised that.
“We work on taking the pressure off on throw-ins, yet we throw it straight down the line to a marked man, and the ball’s in our net. You have to ask why we’re not finding the open player.
“I can’t seem to get messages like that through to our players. We work on these things, but we give the ball away cheaply and ended up making Woking look like really good players at times.”
The former Motherwell chief cast his mind back to his first spell in charge at Edgeley Park fourteen years ago, when his young charges - including the likes of Anthony Pilkington and Tommy Rowe rose up the Football League under the stewardship of Gannon.
The 51-year-old reflected on how his promotion winning side of 2008, which sealed promotion into League One via the play-offs, “understood” the lessons Gannon was teaching - something he suggested he isn’t seeing this time around.
“I really do go back to issues throughout the last few home game - it may be that in previous years we’ve been full-time with players who really buy into what they’re learning and understand why they’re doing it.
“We’re not getting that as much at the moment with these lads, we’ve been moving the ball around for a few games now without any idea of what we’re trying to achieve.
“Inevitably, players then get caught in possession and the away side counter. The last few games have epitomised that. There’s a lot of work to do.”